Day's, Macey's Win Creative Choice Awards

SN STAFF

LAS VEGAS — The National Grocers Association said the best-in-show winners for the 2011 Creative Choice Awards contest were Day's Markets, Heber City, Utah, for advertising and Macey's, Provo, Utah, for merchandising. Both entries were submitted by Associated Food Stores, Salt Lake City.

The contest — whose winners were announced during the annual NGA convention here — recognizes the best advertising and merchandising efforts in the industry.

The winners were selected based on 25 different advertising and merchandising categories as judged by a panel of industry representatives, with winners selected based on the creativity, clarity and effectiveness of the entry.

Day's entry, "Website and Social Media," involved the company's ability to build an online community using a Facebook fan page that outpaced the traffic on its website, NGA said. "The company uses the Facebook page to share information about upcoming store events and special promotions and to interact with customers as they ask questions or leave comments.

"Day's also partnered with a local web developer to build its own social network, using the Ning platform and featuring videos, Web-only coupons and a variety of communication tools. In addition, it opened up the platform to allow other local businesses to advertise their own goods and services, forming a truly unique local social Web presence."

For the Macey's entry, "BYU Ads," the chain opted to take a lighter approach than a traditional item-and-price ad, utilizing its products to playfully tease BYU's athletic competition. "The advertisements quickly became a popular feature in the sports section of the student newspaper," NGA said.

"Macey's witty use of store products garnered attention and influenced perception among a difficult-to-reach audience. Macey's indicated that the support of the college students is important, and the BYU advertisements helped it to keep current shoppers and reach out to a new audience as well."